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The sign of the headquarters of the National Association Opposed To Woman Suffrage

Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination and/or hatred towards people based on their sex rather than their individual merits, but can also refer to any and all systemic differentiations based on the sex of the individuals.

Sexism can refer to subtly different beliefs or attitudes: the belief that one gender or sex is inferior to or more valuable than the other (male and female chauvinism); hatred or distrust towards the opposite or same sex as a whole (misogyny and misandry); imposing stereotypes of masculinity on males or femininity on females.^[1]

Generalization and partition

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Sexist beliefs, as a part of essentialism, holds that individuals can be understood or judged based primarily on the characteristics of the group to which they belong—in this case, their sexual group, as men or women. This assumes that all individuals fit into the category of male or female and does not take into account intersexed people who are born with a mixture of male and female sexual characteristics. This also assumes a significant degree of homogeneity in the characteristics of men and women respectively, and generally does not take into account the differences that exist within these groups. XY males and XX females who are genetically one sex but have developed the characteristics of the opposite sex during the foetal stage are usually considered with respect to their phenotypes under this system.

Certain forms of sexual discrimination are illegal in many countries, but nearly all countries have laws that give special rights, privileges, or responsibilities to one sex or two sexes.

Sexism against females

For more details on this topic, see Chauvinism#Male_chauvinism.

The term 'sexism', in common usage, is viewed by many to imply sexism against females. This form is often called male chauvinism - the view that men are superior to women is one form of sexism.^{citation needed} Related terms are misogyny and gynophobia, which refer to the hated and fear of females or feminity.

Historically, in many patriarchal societies, females have been and are viewed as the "weaker sex". Women's lower status can be seen in cases in which females were not even recognized as persons under the law of the land. The feminist movement promotes women's rights to end sexism against females by addressing issues such as equality under the law, political representation of females, access to education and employment, female victims of domestic violence, self-ownership of the female body, and the impact of pornography on women.^[2][3]

Sexism against males

The view that women are superior to men is also a form of sexism. Sexism against males has been referred to as "reverse sexism." Suedfeld criticizes this label, stating that discrimination against men is sexist, and that the reverse of discrimination is nondiscrimination.^[4] Androphobia refers to the fear of males or masculinity.

In The War Against Boys Christina Hoff Sommers analyzes the gender gap in education using studies that show that by twelfth grade, "males are four times as likely as females not to do homework."^[5] Sommers argues that this gender gap is troubling and that it is not being addressed due to institutionalized sexist attitudes towards males.^[5] Canadian authors Nathanson and Young have also claimed that the modern feminist movement has contributed to sexism against males.^[6][7]

Glenn Sacks, an American men's and fathers' issues columnist and radio broadcaster, initiated a campaign against T-shirts carrying the slogan "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!" in 2003. He claimed that these T-shirts were part of a general societal mood that stigmatizes and victimizes boys.^[8] The company that produced the shirts claimed that they were meant only to be humorous.^[9] The campaign against the line received support from several men's rights groups, such as the National Coalition of Free Men, but also from groups with broader agendas, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center.^[10] Many critics of the T-shirts pointed out that similar slogans directed against girls or ethnic groups would be widely regarded as unacceptable. The Canadian Children's Rights Council termed the slogan hate speech.^[11] The campaign led to the removal of the shirts by several retailers, including Bon-Macy's, and Claire's, a total of more than 3,000 retail outlets. The slogan has also been criticized by Bernard Goldberg in his book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, where Todd Goldman, the shirts' creator, was listed as number 97.^{citation needed}

Sexism against transsexes

Main article: Transphobia

Transsexuality (also known as transgender) is a complex condition that is defined differently by different people.^{citation needed} Transphobia refers to discrimination against transsexuality and transsexual or transgender people, based on the expression of their internal gender identity (see Phobia - terms indicating prejudice or class discrimination). Whether intentional or not, transphobia can have severe consequences for the object of the negative attitude. The LGBT movement has actively fought sexism against transexes. The most typical forms of sexism against transsexuals are how many "women-only" and "men-only" events and organizations have been criticized for rejecting transfemales, and transmales respectively.^{citation needed}

Sexism and sexual expression

The expression of sexual intimacy is a part of the human condition. However, various aspects of human sexuality have been argued as having contributed to sexism.

The Sexual Revolution

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During the sexual revolution, there was a change in the cultural perception of sexual morality and sexual behavior. The sexual revolution has been known as the sexual liberation by feminists since some saw this new development in the West as a leveling ground for females to have as many choices concerning their sexuality as males--hoping to elliminate the problematic virgin/whore dichotomy of traditional Western society.

Modern feminists like Ariel Levy have warned that the current state of commercial sexuality has created a "Raunch Culture"^{citation needed}. This cultural development, (which has largely occurred in the West) the commercialization of the sexual objectification of females, has been criticized as being limiting for men and women. Rather than being liberating, some feminists argue that the "pornification" of Western society has reduced and equated the scope of feminine power to sexual power only. Some feminists argue that females are themselves objectifying other females by becoming producers and promoters of the "Raunch Culture".

Some masculist theorists posit that prior to the sexual revolution the idealized male was expected to be virile while the idealized female was expected to be modest. They note that after the sexual revolution, females were given more liberty to express virility while the reverse has not been true for males, who have yet to be given a choice to be non-virile. They argued that the dual identity of hypersexuality and asexuality is a luxury and special status that only exists for females. However, many feminists believe that this dual identity rather allows males to condemn a female for her sexuality for being either modest or virile (see double standard).

Pornography

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Some individuals express the view that pornography is contributing to sexism, because in usual pornographic performances for male spectators the actresses are sexually objectified. The narrative is formed around male pleasure as the only goal of sexual activity. The German feminist Alice Schwarzer is one representative of this point of view. She has brought this topic up repeatedly since the 1970s, in particular in the feminist magazine Emma. The reverse, where female spectators are objectifying male actors, has also been identified as sexism.

On the other hand, some famous pornographic actresses such as Teresa Orlowski and Tímea Vágvölgyi have publicly stated that they do not feel themselves to be victims of sexism against females. In fact, many female pornographic stars and sex-positive feminists view pornography to be progressive, since they are paid money for performing consensual acts, and also since many directors and managers of the industry are women as well. Porn positive feminists often support their position by pointing out the situation of women in countries with strict pornography laws (e.g., Saudi Arabia) versus women in countries with liberal pornography laws (e.g., the Netherlands). This does not however take into account that even though the women taking part in pornography choose to do so in large part because they are given money for it, they will still be seen as sexual trade objects by the viewers and consumers of pornography. Many anti-pornography supporters also believe that pornography gives a distorted view of men and women's bodies, as well as the actual sexual act, often showing the performers with synthetic implants or exaggerative, fake moans of pleasure. Many pornographic films also show the woman as being extremely passive, or performing degrading acts solely for the pleasure of their sexual partner, and the viewer.

Those advocating against pornography often fail to take homosexual pornography into account. The same arguments used against heterosexual pornography could be adapted to homosexual pornography. If it assumed that watching pornography inherently involves objectifying the actors and that objectifying someone is a form of sexism, than homosexuals who watch homosexual pornography would also be guilty of sexism against their own gender. Many people find this argument absurd and falsely believe that this indicates that the arguments used against heterosexual pornography are unsound. Of course not all advocates against pornography make the argument that objectification only equals sexism and vice versa. Many uphold the view that pornography can be objectifying without the viewer necessarily being sexist against members of their own sex.

Still other feminists, outside of the porn-positive feminism and anti-pornography feminism, feared that censoring profit-oriented pornography would lead to censoring legitimate non-profit female expression of their sexual experience. This is because historically, indecency acts in various countries had, in the past, been used to censor sexual educations, which are vital to the sexual independence of females and females taking ownership of the decisions over their bodies. Thus two independent matters get regrettably entangled.

Occupational sexism

Main article: Occupational sexism

Occupational sexism refers to any discriminatory practices, statements, actions, etc. based on a person's sex that are present or occur in a place of employment. One form of occupational sexism is wage discrimination, which is prohibited in the US.^[12]

Sexual discrimination and law

Sex discrimination is discrimination based on sex or gender. Currently, discrimination based on sex is defined as adverse action against another person, that would not have occurred had the person been of another sex. This is considered a form of prejudice and is illegal in certain enumerated circumstances in most countries.

Sexual discrimination can arise in different contexts. For instance an employee may be discriminated against by being asked discriminatory questions during a job interview, or because an employer did not hire, promote or wrongfully terminated an employee based on his or her gender, or employers pay unequally based on gender or sexually harass an employee. In the education setting there could be claims that a student was excluded from an educational program or opportunity due to his or her gender and a student can be sexually harassed. In the housing setting there could be claims that a person was refused negotiations on seeking a house, contracting/leasing a house or getting a loan based on his or her gender. Another setting where there is usually gender discrimination is when one is refused to extend his or her credit, refused approval of credit/loan process, and if there is a burden of unequal loan terms based on one’s gender.

Canada

• Ontario Human Rights Code 1962
• Canadian Human Rights Act 1977

Hong Kong

• Sex Discrimination Ordinance (1996)

United Kingdom

• Equal Pay Act 1970
• Human Rights Act 1998

United States

Notable U.S. laws regarding discrimination based upon sex in the U.S. include the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits wage discrimination by employers and labor organizations based on sex, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which broadly prohibits discrimination in the workplace including hiring, firing, workforce reduction, benefits, and sexually harassing conduct. U.S. law has also included discrimination based upon pregnancy in the workplace as discrimination based upon sex with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.^[13]

See also

• Chauvinism
• Equal Pay Act
• Gender Egalitarianism
• Gender role
• Intersectionality
• LGBT stereotypes
• Misandry
• Misogyny
• Occupational sexism
• Sexual harrassment
• Sex in advertising
• Stereotype
• Triple oppression

References

External links

• National Organisation of Men Against Sexism NOMAS, USA
• Sexism and Sexuality in advertising
• Reverse Sexism Rears its Ugly Head
• Middle Sex
• Father Phobia of the Family Court
• Father's Day Lament
• Federal and California Sex Discrimination Laws
• Hate Crimes: Criminal Law & Identity Politics
• When It Happens To Men
• Gender Bias and Fairness. ERIC Digest.
• A law lecture in mp3 format (part 1, part 2, and part 3) on gender discrimination and U.S. constitutional law
• Equal Pay Act - Actual Text
• Gender Discrimination Law in the United States